RIFLE RANGE BOY

Dedicated to a follower, HS, who enjoyed the post on Lotus and asked whether a 'one world' can ever exist where we do things for the greater good of mankind and where the need of the collective supersedes that of an individual. We are told that race is healthy. The human race is moving forward from cave-dwelling nomads to space-exploring nations by this very trait, the race to be better than the other. Nature is hostile. It does not care two hoots for the weak and the slow. It shows its mighty fury to those who cross its path. Only the fittest survive. Biology transmits this survival trait to the next generation so that the memory of how to thwart that adversity is implanted in their DNA. But we are told we have six senses, unlike members of the animal kingdom. We have developed empathy and compassion for the weak and the downtrodden. Still, the only thing keeping us from killing each other is the law, fear of retribution for our actions in this life, the next, or the afterli...

Wind River (2017) Director: Taylor Sheridan We are all seekers. We want to understand things. Our brains have been wired to try to understand things around us. As children, we feel insecure with unfamiliar faces and environments. We wonder about the darkness that we see outside. We try to find out when exactly the light goes off when we shut a fridge door. We eavesdrop to find out where babies come from. We want to know what actually happens when we die. Looking at the stars, we wonder if they are any intelligent life forms there.   Did Santa Claus put those presents under the Christmas tree? Did God help himself to Prasadham that we offer? As we grow older, everything will fall into its place. We learn biology, geography, theology, astronomy, and so on.   Biology gives glorious explanations to all the burning questions we want to know but are too shy to ask. Geography demarcated the lines drawn between humans. Theology told us to limit our inquiries to things that our simple ...

So a niece, lured by all the promises of a blissfully contended modern life by being a proud owner of an iPhone 14Pro, decided to 'not so smartly' and allegedly took her aunt's debit cards to purchase her ticket to freedom. Unfortunately, the long arms of the law had caught up with her. Her long march through the corridors of justice in handcuffs excites the journalist of the country's premier newspaper. Of course, nobody in the country will have the gravitas to question the need to handcuff a petty thief. Even someone who allegedly squandered the nation's sovereign and turned the country into an international embarrassment still cat-walked these same corridors flashing his branded suits, dressed to the nines uncuffed. That is the thing about the law. The law and enforcements target the commoner. Paradoxically, the legal hierarchy is there to protect the high-heeled. Wealth can ease the path to procure all the lawful representation money can buy. If a person fails t...

Probably the most iconic picture of the times.  The hands that were to protect the people  are used to prevent the rights of the  member  of the public to exercise  his  democratic rights.  Dr Streram  Sinnasamy  being prevented from  submitting his  nomination papers for failing to  display  the commission's identity tag (which  was  not given to him in the first place).  This image and many like this must  have  evoked emotions so  compelling to  move 61  years of a single rule party.   Credit: Free Malaysia A commonly uttered colloquial Tamil proverb goes, "you cannot hide a whole wax gourd under your serving of rice!" Once you start eating your rice, your deliciously spiced gourd will undoubtedly reveal itself. A lie cannot be hidden from public knowledge forever. Eventually, the truth will tell itself, sooner or later. When the whole world was h...

*Terms and conditions apply! The newest battle cry screams 'Black Lives Matter'. Of course, it is the only politically correct thing to say, that all lives are precious, irrespective of race, colour and class. Nice on paper, nice to hear but not in practice. It is an undeniable fact that some lives matter more than others. Rather than thinking that race, colour and creed are determining factors on who should live and who should just bite the bullet and disappear, I would like to think that money is the common denominator that saves everybody's skin in the end. In this time and age, the dictum 'Health is Wealth' no longer holds water. It should be rewritten as ' Wealth assures good Health'. As the cost of medical services snowballs by leaps and bounds, governments and health providers are running to cut cost. Even though the world has the technological know-how or at least have access to some experimental techniques to treat some potentially fatal il...